Zionism vs Judaism
There is a big difference between Zionism and Judaism. Judaism describes the Jewish faith whereas Zionism defines the philosophy behind an exclusive Jewish state which is the physical and spiritual homeland meant exclusively for the Jewish people. The latter is a very fundamentalist outlook, and is much reviled, particularly amongst the Arabs.
All Zionist are Jews, but not all Jews are Zionists. There are Jews in many parts of the world. Most of them live in Israel and America. Now all of them certainly believe in Judaism, but not all of them would subscribe to the hard-line exclusivist vision of the Zionists. The Zionist movement arose in Europe in the late nineteenth century out of a desire to end the exile of the Jewish people and return them to the holy land by force if necessary. Initially they found very little support among the Jewish populace but could make some impression after the horrors of the Second World War, as perpetrated on the Jews, made them pay heed to this notion. Judaism on the other hand simply means living by the tenets of the Jewish holy book, the Torah. Whatever befell them was the will of God, as expressed through the Torah and there never was any attempt to forge any sort of a national, political or sectarian agenda.
Judaism as a religion is really a simple way of life, where man lives his life quietly and with dignity, while observing the traditional Jewish rituals that are ordained in the Torah. Zionism on the other hand speaks of the exclusivity of the Jews, their right on the holy land, the acquisition and conquest of lands held by other people, which is rightly their own. As opposed to a practitioner of Judaism, for whom a Jew is a person who believes in God, and strives to carry out his word, as passed down to him in the Torah. He does not think in terms of the lineage of a Jewish race which is separate from that of the others.
A practitioner of Judaism will have a more nuanced approach towards life, as he would know that Jewish history is a rich, checkered and much splendored tapestry which plays out over many nations and regions. A Zionist on the other hand would have very little factual information about his people, but a fanciful notion about the origin of his race.
The Jewish people or the followers of Judaism have often suffered persecution at the hands of European nations down the ages on account of their race. It is ironic that the Zionists among the Jews would show the same kind of hatred to other people, namely the dispossessed Palestinians. This is even more ironic for the reason that Asian nations were generally very tolerant of the Jews’ presence down the ages.
According to the traditions of Judaism the task that God set before Jews was to set standards in the realm of spirituality and piety, and not to excel in military might or the mastery of high technology as a driver of force, as the Zionists proclaim. All in all Judaism is all about spirituality and piety while Zionism is about racism and expansionism.
Summary:
1.Judaism describes the Jewish faith. Zionism defines the philosophy behind an exclusive Jewish state.
2.All Zionist are Jews, but not all Jews are Zionists.
3.Judaism is more about spirituality but Zionism is more about racism.